Updating Registration Records with the ICANN Trade Policy

ICANN's Inter-Registrar Transfer Policy (IRTP) treats certain changes to a domain's owner contact — updating the name, organization, or email address — as a trade of that domain from one person or organization to another. This applies at every registrar, not just Hover. This article explains what counts as a trade, how the process works, and how to submit one through Hover.

What Counts as an Inter-Registrar Trade

Performing an inter-registrar trade does not move a domain to a different Hover account or to another registrar — it's simply the process of updating a domain's owner contact name, organization, or email address. The change happens at the registry level, and there's no charge for it.

This policy applies only to generic top-level domains (gTLDs); it doesn't affect country-code domains (ccTLDs).

Note: If only the spelling of the domain owner's name or email is being corrected, ICANN still treats this as a trade between two people, even though both are the same person — this is called a non-trade. It's considered a real trade only when ownership actually moves from one party to another. Updates to phone number or address alone never trigger a trade.

Before you begin

• Confirm this is actually a trade. Only changes to the Owner's first name, last name, organization, or email address count — phone number or address changes alone don't.
• Have the new owner's contact details ready. You'll need the accurate name, organization, and/or email address to enter during the update.
• Decide whether you want the 60-day transfer lock applied. If you're planning to transfer the domain to a different registrar soon, opt out of the lock when you submit the change.

Step 1: Submit the Trade

1. Sign in to your Hover control panel using your chosen method of 2FA.
2. Select the domain to process the trade on. If you only have one domain registered, you'll be taken there automatically.
3. From the Overview tab, scroll to Registration records > Owner > Edit.
4. Update the name, organization, and/or contact details to reflect the new owner, then select Save changes.

Note: The option to opt out of the 60-day transfer lock is disabled by default. If the lock is enabled, it prevents the domain from being transferred to another registrar for 60 days.

Once the trade is complete, both the prior and new contacts receive a notification email — no further action is required from either party. If the name and/or organization changed but not the email address, the domain owner receives both emails.

Note: The new domain owner may be required to complete registrant verification for ICANN — see Registrant Verification.

Understanding the 60-Day Transfer Lock

The option to opt out of the 60-day transfer lock is disabled by default. If enabled, it prevents the domain from transferring to another registrar for 60 days.

If the lock was applied to your domain by mistake, submitting another change to the Owner contact — and checking the box to skip the lock — will clear it and allow the transfer to proceed.

Tip: If you want to move the domain to a different Hover account instead of changing its ownership contact, enabling the 60-day lock won't get in the way — see Moving a Domain Between Hover Accounts (Domain Push).

How Often You Can Submit a Trade

Domain trades can be made at any time, and there's no charge for updating a domain's contact information.

Next steps

• Learn what to expect after a trade if ICANN requires the new owner to confirm their contact details — see Registrant Verification.
• Moving a domain to a different Hover account, not changing its contact? See Moving a Domain Between Hover Accounts (Domain Push) instead.

Questions? Contact Hover Support.